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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848302">Survivor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kdragon1209/pseuds/Kdragon1209'>Kdragon1209</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Keith Needs Hugs [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Lightly Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Loneliness, Loneliness and Comfort, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), food insecurity, hoarding food, protective red lion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:55:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kdragon1209/pseuds/Kdragon1209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Would it be weird if I went to the kitchen and got more food again? Keith wondered. It would be the fifth time I’ve eaten today…maybe I shouldn’t, no one else is eating that often. But his stomach was growling again, and if he ignored it it would only get worse. <br/>     Even though they had been in space for a while and he had been on a regular eating schedule, Keith still got hungry.</p><p>Or, after living in the desert by himself for a year and having to fend for himself, Keith has a hard time adjusting to the new life at the castle.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Keith Needs Hugs [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>168</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Survivor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A one-shot idea that wouldn't leave my head and let me write anything else until I wrote it. I imagine that Keith got used to having to fend for himself and worrying about his next meal while he lived in the desert by himself. And I would wager that didn't go away immediately when they started living in the castle. </p><p>FYI, there is also a slight reference to possible child abuse in this fic. I am not sure if it was done on purpose or there just wasn't enough to go around, but I'm gonna go with on purpose. </p><p>This is set somewhere in the middle of season 1-ish.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Would it be weird if I went to the kitchen and got more food again? </em>Keith wondered. <em>It would be the fifth time I’ve eaten today…maybe I shouldn’t, no one else is eating that often. </em>But his stomach was growling again, and if he ignored it it would only get worse.</p><p>     Even though they had been in space for a while and he had been on a regular eating schedule, Keith still got hungry. When he was living in the desert for that god awful lonely year, there were days where he went without food or had to ration whatever he had. Keith could easily recall having to scrounge for food—not something easily done when you had no money. On the days where he had been starving and had nothing to eat, sometimes he had to resort for foraging for food—in a desert no less. He wasn’t proud of having to sit still for hours on end just to wait for a lizard to poke its head out so he could kill it, but it was still better than stealing.</p><p>     It was just one of the many things he had never told Shiro about. Shiro had already been upset that Keith got kicked out of the Garrison not even a month after the Kerberos mission was supposedly lost, he didn’t need another reason. Besides, after all the shit that Shiro had went through while he was imprisoned that he couldn’t even <em>remember </em>and now having to lead a team of four moody teenagers with almost zero piloting experience against a 10,000-year-old intergalactic empire, Shiro <em>definitely</em> didn’t need another thing to worry about. It was in the past, after all, so it shouldn’t matter anymore.</p><p>     That’s what Keith kept telling himself anyways whenever he snuck food. He made sure to eat the extra food in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, just like when he was at the Garrison. He wasn’t proud of that either. He also had to be extra careful when he learned that Shiro was often up wandering the halls at night because the man couldn’t sleep. The first time Keith about ran into Shiro it nearly scared Keith half to death, but luckily he managed to hide before Shiro noticed him. Shiro didn’t know that Keith had stolen extra food at the Garrison and didn’t need to know he was doing it now either.</p><p>     The other thing that Keith wasn’t proud of was the stash of food that he hid in his room in the castle. He had also had a hidden stash in his dorm room at the Garrison, but just like back then, it made him anxious whenever someone knocked on the door. Most of the time it was just Shiro coming to check on him, but every once in a blue moon it was Lance coming to get him for something that Keith was required to participate in.</p><p>     There was one time that Keith had went to grab a ration bar from his hidey hole when a knock sounded at his door. Keith about jumped right out of his skin and had two seconds to cover up his stash and calm down before the door opened. It was Shiro, coming to get him for some team training that Allura had sprung on them, though Keith could barely hear him over his heart pounding in his ears. Keith knew he had been caught and the guilt was written all over his face, but Shiro didn’t say anything and Keith just nodded. Keith breathed a sigh of relief when Shiro left, knowing he had just dodged a bullet. That was the night he moved his stash to Red.</p><p>     It was stupid, really, and Keith knew it, but he couldn’t help himself. The others—particularly Lance—made fun of him when he ate whatever was put in front of him, even if it was one of Coran’s awful paladin meals. What they didn’t know was that Keith had eaten worse out in the desert.</p><p>     Way worse.</p><p>     So hoarding food it was. That’s how he often found himself sitting in Red’s cockpit, munching away on whatever he had managed to grab. Keith made sure to never fully deplete his stockpile in case for some reason the regularly scheduled meals disappeared. He knew that was stupid too, but if history had taught him anything, it was to never get too comfortable. Anything could be taken away at any given moment, with no rhyme or reason whatsoever, so he had to be prepared for the inevitable.</p><p>     What Keith didn’t expect though, was the day that the Red Lion reached out to him. Keith about jumped out his skin for a second time, his heart already hammering in his chest. It took him a minute to calm down enough to focus on Red, but when he did, he wasn’t sure what to think. Apparently she had picked up on Keith’s distress over food and was now questioning him. It wasn’t exactly a question with words per say, but Keith could sense the inquire and instantly knew what it was about.</p><p>     “It’s…hard to explain,” Keith said softly. He took another bite of the awful tasting ration bars and chewed in silence. He thought Red had lost interest, until he received a mental image of the kitchen. Keith waved the image away as if it were a cloud of smoke blocking his vision. “It doesn’t work like that.”</p><p>     The questioning came back again, stronger than before.</p><p>     “Why can’t you let me eat in peace?” Keith demanded. Keith received a mental growl from Red as a response. Keith sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be satisfied until she got an answer, and unless Keith wanted to find a new hiding place for his stash, he knew he had to give her one.</p><p>     <em>I never seemed to have enough food, </em>Keith thought at Red. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it out loud, but she seemed to understand just fine. He briefly reminisced about his time in the desert, about having to constantly ration his food, about having to hunt when he ran out or even steal a couple times. His mind wanted to connect it to his time in foster care, but Keith cut it off before it had much of a chance. Red evidently saw a glimpse of it though and rumbled reassuringly in his mind. <em>I know I shouldn’t be worried about it and all, given that the castle has plenty of food, but I can’t help it. </em></p><p>     An image of the others popped into Keith’s mind, particularly of Shiro.</p><p>     Keith shook his head. <em>No, I can’t tell them. They wouldn’t understand and they don’t need to know. It’s not like I’m injured or anything, so it won’t affect fighting. I just… </em>Keith wasn’t sure what to say—or think, since technically he’d been thinking all this to Red. <em>It’s nothing to worry about Red. </em>Her concern receded, but Keith could tell it didn’t completely go away. She sent him reassurances again, her warm presence wrapping around Keith. He instantly tried to push the feeling away, unsure of what was going on and instinctively rejecting the unfamiliar sensation. Red evidently didn’t care and pushed back harder, wrapping him tighter in the warmth. It sort of reminded Keith of curling up in a blanket next to cozy fireplace. He could also feel a fierce protectiveness underneath the layer of Red’s soothing, wanting to destroy anything that made Keith upset, but for now she buried it and focused on comforting him.</p><p>     Keith wasn’t sure what to do or think, but gradually relaxed against her constant warmth. He sat there for a moment, relishing in the sense of comfort it brought him. It was in that moment that he realized that while he couldn’t go to Shiro for everything, he could go to Red.</p><p>     Keith finished his ration bar and exited the Red Lion. When he stepped off, she sat up and returned to her original sitting position. “Thanks Red,” Keith said quietly and left.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wouldn't be surprised if there's more similar ideas coming. Maybe they'll all be one-shots, or maybe they'll have multiple chapters. Who knows? </p><p> </p><p>And why is it coming up with titles is always the hardest? Or is that just me? I couldn't think of anything clever. Same with the series title.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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